What a fantastic festival! The much anticipated Chipping Norton Literary Festival exceeded all expectation and was another incredible occasion for the town and beyond.
Thursday saw a steady flow of creativity and awe-inspiring talent stream through the shop as a rich variety of authors joined us here in the shop and across Chipping Norton. We saw an enthusiastic group of children’s authors coming together for the Festival’s school’s day. I’m undecided as to the what the collective noun for authors should be but when you see children’s authors, like those who joined us, its hard to think of anything strictly formal like an index or a chapter of authors. When you meet such imaginative, engaging and enthusiastic authors you know as a bookseller that your job has just become that much easier; their passion for books, not just their own work, and their eloquent way with words has most definitely sold us on every single book! Schools across the county were joined by Stewart Ross, Adam Stower, Dave Shelton, Gill Lewis, Elen Caldecott, Steven Butler, A F Harold and John Dougherty.
After a flying start, Friday, Saturday and Sunday saw an astonishing array of exceptional events ranging from Lee Child in the Theatre as well as Richard and Judy later in the day, Shelia Hancock and Baroness Trumpington, Matt Haig in the Town Hall and debut novelists Renee Knight, Jason Hewitt and Paula Hawkins, and storytelling with Petr Horacek in the Library. The town was buzzing with literary excitement and here in the shop we were truly privileged to host the Green Room. If you missed out this year on all that the Festival had to offer then make sure you follow us throughout the year and join us next year. Here are some of our favourite moments from the weekend.
